


I Won't Let You Fall

by blackfin



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2019-01-04 02:52:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12160056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackfin/pseuds/blackfin
Summary: Corrin loses control over his dragon blood and it threatens to overrun him. Ryoma is the only one who can get to him in time but is he capable of calming him down?





	I Won't Let You Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by my-court-of-miracles artwork over on tumblr!  
> Currently accepting commissions, check my tumblr for more details  
> Kudos and comments are muchly appreciated! Thank you!

Ryoma rounded the corner, one hand wrapped around the hilt of his sword in a white knuckled grip, the other reached out, grabbed Sakura by her shoulder and yanked her towards him. She let out a shrieking, startled yelp, her staff raising as though she intended to strike him with it. Whipping her head around, her pink hair swinging wildly, she looked up at him with wide, frightened eyes. 

“Brother!” She gasped, lowering her staff. Tears immediately began to form in the corners of her eyes. One fell as she stepped closer to him, reaching up to gingerly touch the hand on her shoulder with trembling fingers. “Brother, Corrin is-!”

“Go!” He roared, his eyes forward, eyebrows furrowed, mouth turned down into a fierce expression of determination. 

“But-!” She protested but her words were abruptly cut off when Ryoma non-too gently shoved her down the alleyway he had just come up with. Taking a precious second to ensure she didn’t stumble, making a hurried mental note to apologize for the rough behavior later on, he pointed to the path and commanded, “Go. Now!”

Sakura hesitated for a split moment, wide eyes staring up at him before she nodded weakly and turned to race down the alleyway, her cloak flapping like a startled bird’s wings. Another precious second was wasted as he watched her run, making sure she made it to the end of the alleyway, into the waiting arms of Saizo, who immediately snatched her up and whisked her off to somewhere safe. 

Breathing a little sigh of relief, Ryoma turned back, set his mouth into a firm line, and began to walk forward. His heart twisted in agony at the scene playing out in front of him. A few feet away, writhing on the ground as though tormented by extreme pain, was Corrin. Flashes and beams of violent white light wove around him, accompanied by a sound that reminded him of an intense wind blowing through a tunnel. It was so loud that it made his ears ring but he paid no mind to it. All of his attention was on his younger brother. 

Something had happened - he wasn’t too sure what, Saizo had only been able to provide the vaguest of details - and now, Corrin was losing control of his dragon blood. It was overrunning him, threatening to overwhelm him. Ryoma knew that it was Corrin’s willpower alone that was keeping him from changing, from running rampant, from letting it take control of him but that strength could only last for so long. If Corrin wasn’t calmed soon...he didn’t even want to think about what could happen. He had seen this scenario before. There was no part of him that wanted a repeat of that event, nor did he want Corrin to have to endure that kind of pain again. 

Stepping closer, fighting against the panic and distress building up inside of his chest, he called out, raising his voice up high enough to be heard over the noise, “Corrin! It is I, your brother! Please, you must calm yourself!”

The only response was a loud, anguished howl. Corrin jerked up off the ground, hands going to his head where they gripped tightly onto his mussed hair. Throwing his head back, he let out another scream and Ryoma was distressed to realize that his normally red eyes were now completely white - white as bone. Protruding from the bottoms of Corrin’s lips were sharp, pointed white teeth that gnashed and clenched together in an animalistic snarl. Around his younger brother, the violent white light intensified to the point that it was painful to look at. The roaring noise grew louder and louder, shaking the earth with enough force to make rocks and pebbles strewn across the ground vibrate. 

Time was running out. And it was obvious that just yelling into the wind wasn’t going to amount to anything. If he had more time, he would wait for Azura to join him as she was the only one proven to be able to calm Corrin down when he was in such a state - though, he was loathe to put her in that kind of danger - but she was on the other side of town. Even if she was on her way at that very moment, it would still take her, with the best of circumstances, over 10 minutes to reach them. 

That was 10 minutes Corrin didn’t have. Panic, which he had been keeping under control, began to build, higher and louder. Inside his chest, his heartbeat picked up to such a rapid pace that he could feel it slamming against his spine. Clenching his teeth, loathing the sense of helplessness choking him, coating his throat in the bitterest bile he had ever tasted, he watched as Corrin screamed, his expression twisted into one of furied anguish, his body twisting and jerking as though it was no longer under his control but rather being buffeted around by some invisible force. No, there wasn’t much time left and he had no idea what he should do. He didn’t know, he had nothing, what could he do? What could he possibly do? Tightening his grip on his sword, almost to the point that if he were in the right mind, he would be nervous that he’d snap it in half, his eyes darting about, he swallowed against the bile and tried focus on any possible solution. He was Corrin’s older brother, it was his duty, his role to protect him so he had to do something! 

Azura had talked him down the last time this had happened but she had also had the help of those strange powers of her’s. Those were abilities not in his possession. Still, was it possible for him to do the same? Could his voice reach Corrin in such a way that he could overcome the raging dragon’s blood overrunning him? Would it be enough? His voice hadn’t reached him before but what if he got closer? Azura had been in physical Corrin when he had last lost control, she had reached out, touched him with the utmost of gentleness - perhaps that was what his younger brother needed to come back but he couldn’t be certain. Moving any closer would be throwing himself into a dangerous zone and the last thing he wanted was to have to raise his sword against his brother. 

A savage tremor rippled through Corrin’s body, nearly throwing him to his knees. Hurling his head back, he let out a high pitched, guttural roar that sent cold racing along Ryoma’s skin. In that moment, he decided there was no time and no choices left. In a rushed but practiced movement, he ripped the helmet from his head, sending his long, brown hair flying, tossed it aside without a second glance and raced forward. Within a few long, bounding steps, he made it over to Corrin and threw his arms around his trembling body. Dragging him close, pressing his shaking, quivering back against his chest, he tightened his grip around his midsection into a unbreakable bear hug. 

In his arms, Corrin thrashed and lashed about, kicking out his legs, clashing his teeth together with audible clicks. White eyes rolled around in their sockets, though he couldn’t tell exactly what they were looking at or if they were even seeing at all. Clawed fingers slashed at the open air before going to where Ryoma’s arms were tightly clenched around him. Sharp fingers scratched at the surface of his armor, fruitless in their efforts to remove the restraint. Unsurprisingly, it was exceedingly difficult to hold Corrin still but Ryoma had some advantages: he was bigger, and Corrin was showing obvious signs of exhaustion. 

Placing his lips close to Corrin’s ear, he breathed, struggling to keep his voice calm and even, “It’s alright. Everything is alright. I’m here, your big brother is here. I’m right here, Corrin. It’s okay.”

It felt almost foolish, childish even, to be saying such things in such an intense situation. Those were words one would use to comfort a terrified child, not one to calm down somebody about to change into a raging dragon. But the reaction his assurances immediately earned him showed that it did seem to be working. The insistent scratching of Corrin’s clawed fingernails against his armor became less and less fervent. Around them, the flashes of light faded away to afterthoughts of red and black behind his eyelids, and with the lights went the roaring sound as well, leaving behind a deafening quiet that set a loud ringing into his ears in defiance to the sudden lack of noise. Corrin’s eyes were still bone white, and his mouth was still pulled into that fearsome snarl but a lot of the energy had left his body, causing his fight against Ryoma’s embrace to weaken. 

Ecstatic but still cautious, his heartbeat reverberating along his spine, Ryoma reached up to cup the side of Corrin’s head, pressing his forehead against Corrin’s temple. He placed a soft kiss against his younger brother’s hot cheek, breathing in deeply, comforted by his brother’s familiar scent and whispered, “Come back to me, Corrin. Your big brother wants you back so please, wake up!” 

A strange, strangled noise emitted from deep within Corrin’s throat, followed by a mighty tremor that ran through the entire length of his body. His body suddenly went limp, head falling forward until his chin was resting snugly against the top of his chest, and for a split, terrifying second, Ryoma was certain that the struggle had been too much for his brother to handle and had killed him but then, to his utter relief, Corrin slowly lifted his head, turned it sideways and settled his red eyes on him with heavy lidded, exhausted gaze. Hard, panting breaths fell from his slightly parted lips. Glistening on his forehead were prominent beads of sweat. The pallor of his skin was waxy, pale but there were two bright smudges of pink in his round cheeks. 

“Brother.” Corrin murmured, his voice barely audible, a small, grateful smile tugging at the corners of his lips. 

Feeling a huge, silly smile of his own spreading across his face, relief and happiness washing over him in a warm, comforting wave, intensely grateful to see those beautiful red eyes once more, Ryoma pressed his lips firmly against Corrin’s cheek, brushing the pad of his thumb along the curve of his jaw, and said in a shaking voice, “Welcome back.”

In a slow, jerky movement, Corrin turned in his arms, his body still shuddered, and curled close to his larger frame. Pushing his face into the curve of Ryoma’s neck, breathing out a long, shaky breath when Ryoma reached up to gently stroke the back of his head, Corrin whispered, “Sakura, please tell me-”

“She’s fine,” Ryoma soothed, weaving his fingers through silky strands of grey hair, “she’s safe. You didn’t hurt anymore, Corrin, it’s alright.”

Slumping forward into his embrace as though every last ounce of strength had fled from his body, Corrin loosely wrapped his arms around Ryoma’s back, his hot breath puffing against the side of his neck, “I could hear your voice. Over the roaring in my head, I could hear you calling for me.”

“I didn’t know what else to do.” Ryoma admitted, “It was all I could think of to try and bring you back.”

Corrin shuddered in his arms, “I was so frightened. With each passing moment, I could feel my control slipping. I was falling deeper and deeper into darkness. I didn’t know how to get out, how to stop it but then, your voice...it was like it opened up a doorway and let light come pouring in. I thought,” Corrin made a noise that was either a soft chuckle or a sob, “brother is calling for me, brother wants me back, I need to wake up, to go back.”

Ryoma tightened his hold around his younger brother, wishing he could chase away the violent tremors, “Everything is alright now. You’ve come back, and I won’t let you go ever again.”

“I could slip again, Brother.” Corrin whispered, “I could lose control-”

“And I will be here to catch you.” Ryoma said firmly, putting force behind his words, settling a warm kiss against the shell of Corrin’s ear, “I will be here to bring you back. I am not going to let anything happen to you, ever.”

There was a moment of tense silenced before Corrin whispered against he flushed skin of his neck, “Promise?”

Ryoma nodded, “I swear to you, on my blood, on my home. I won’t let you fall.”

A soft, shuddering breath puffed along his skin. Corrin’s arms tightened minutely as he snuggled even closer, pressing his lithe, trembling body against Ryoma’s. Dusting little kisses everywhere he could reach, Ryoma wanted nothing more than to spend the next five hours with Corrin safely held in his arms but he knew that Sakura and the others were waiting. He could only imagine the amount of panic his younger sister had to be feeling right now. It would be cruel of him go keep her waiting. 

“Can you walk?” He asked, regretfully pulling away from his brother. 

“I can try.” Corrin replied hesitantly, slowly slipping his arms off Ryoma’s weight. On his young, smooth face was an expression that clearly expressed he felt similar to Ryoma, in that separating was the last thing he wanted. Glancing up at him with tired red eyes, he offered a weak smile, which Ryoma returned, then struggled to get to his feet. 

He managed to get to his feet, wobbled unsteadily for a moment then immediately collapsed. Ryoma caught him before his knees hit the ground. In a quick, graceful movement, he swooped Corrin up, slipping one arm around his back and the other underneath his legs. Hugging him close once more, he felt shamelessly grateful for the short while longer that he could feel his brother in his arms, that he could know he was safe, warm and far from harm. 

“Sorry.” Corrin mumbled, the tips of his ears burning red. 

“Don’t be, it’s fine.” Ryoma replied warmly, resting his cheek on the top of Corrin’s head. The soft, silky strands rubbed pleasantly against his skin, “Shall we go? I know Sakura must want to see you safe and sound.”

Corrin nodded, “I would like to see the same of her.”

Smiling slightly, Ryoma turned, made a mental note to ask Saizo to retrieve his helmet and with his brother safely held in his arms, he walked off to the centre of town, where he was certain that a very anxious party of people were awaiting their return.


End file.
